Absolute sea level determination for the subtropical Atlantic Climate Study

The Subtropical Atlantic Climate Study (STACS) is a subprogram in the NOAA climate program designed to access the feasibility of monitoring horizontal fluxes in the Gulf Stream system off Florida. Transport in the Florida Current fluctuates on time scales which are reflected in sea level records monitored at tide gauges. Geodetic leveling, connecting tide gauges along the east coast of the United States, allows intercomparison of sea level records alongstream, but the cross-stream and alongstream records in the Bahamas and Cuba are not connected. In this study, various methods to determine absolute sea level differences across the Straits of Florida between Miami, Florida and Cat Cay, Bahamas, a part of the STACS area, were investigated; the desired accuracy of the sea level difference is ± 1 cm. This study indicates that a combination of dense gravity data with satellite altimeter (TOPEX and GEOSAT) data in the STACS area could provide a ± 1 cm absolute sea level difference accuracy across the Straits of Florida. This paper also provides discussion of other conventional methods.